It is well known to wrap horse legs with fabric material for therapeutic and other purposes. Typically, wraps are in the form of fabric strips which are wound about the horse's leg and secured thereto by separate fasteners such as pins, tape, straps, and strings.
These common prior art approaches can actually injure a horse. For example, pins can pop open and scratch or puncture a horse. Tape can break. When this happens, the bandage becomes loose and can be entangled about a horse's leg. Circulation of blood can be cut off, possibly resulting in laminitis. Furthermore, a horse's leg can be abraded and the hair removed. Injury can also result if a horse begins to thrash or struggle to disengage itself from an unravelled bandage.
String is dangerous because it can be pulled too tight by the person applying the bandage or wrap and blood circulation can be impaired or cut off. Strings, tapes, and straps generally are applied horizontally across the horse's tendon, cannon bone and splint bone, causing localized compressive forces encircling the leg.
Prior art animal leg wraps are also often difficult to use and can result in considerable variation in wrap tension in different applications. Many prior art leg wraps also present an unsightly appearance.
The following United States patents are believed representative of the state of the prior art in this field: U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,285, issued Oct. 6, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,827, issued Apr. 28, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,278, issued Aug. 11, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,602, issued Sep. 3, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,809, issued Jan. 10, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,867, issued May 13, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,705, issued Jul. 9, 1974, U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,462, issued Jun. 6, 1972, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,517, issued Oct. 5, 1965.